All new cars in the EU will have a “black box”
All new cars sold in Europe from July 2024 will be required to have a black box. An event data recorder is also mandatory for small trucks and vans.
Starting in July 2024, all newly registered cars in the European Union must be equipped with an “event data recorder” (EDR) as a standard feature.
This requirement applies to passenger cars of the M1 class, which can accommodate up to eight passenger seats, in addition to the driver’s seat. In addition, Class N1 commercial vehicles, including pickups and vans with a payload of up to 3,500 kilograms, will also be equipped with the automotive equivalent of a black box.
Accidents have financial consequences for the people involved, and it is often difficult to determine who is at fault. The EDR can help authorities understand what exactly happened by analyzing the data stored in the EDR. The device records certain parameters for a short period of time – five seconds before the accident and 0.3 seconds after the impact.
According to the documentation provided by the European Commission, EDR records and stores the following data: speed, braking, position and inclination of the car on the road, as well as the reaction of built-in safety systems. In addition, EDR analyzes whether the emergency call system, eCall, has been triggered. The EDR must store information “with a high level of accuracy and guaranteed data integrity”.
EDR is usually built into the airbag control unit and cannot be deactivated. It is automatically activated when the airbags and seatbelt pretensioners are deployed. In addition, it starts recording when the active hood of the vehicle is extended or when there is a change in speed in the transverse or longitudinal direction of more than 8 km/h within 0.15 seconds.
The information recorded in the USR belongs to the driver or owner of the vehicle. The device operates in a closed loop system, and the data is collected anonymously to ensure that it cannot be manipulated if it falls into the wrong hands. For the same reason, the last four digits of the vehicle identification number (VIN) are not stored. Any other information that could reveal the identity of the owner is also not recorded.
The data is provided only to the competent authorities to assist in the investigation process. You can get the information through the OBD interface, but if the port is destroyed during an accident, the information should be available directly from the black box.
